Fetal Remains Bill Clears Senate Hearing

February 18, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS – Today a bill regarding the disposal of aborted fetal remains passed the Indiana Senate Health and Provider Services Committee. Senate Bill 329, authored by Sens. Liz Brown (District 15) and Amanda Banks (District 17), requires the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) to adopt clear rules for how abortion facilities shall dispose of fetal remains. The bill also provides that a pregnant woman shall determine the final deposition of the fetal remains.Below are excerpts, as prepared for delivery, from witnesses who testified on the
bill.

Cathie Humbarger, Vice President of Indiana Right to Life and Executive Director of Allen County Right to Life:

“In my role as Executive Director of Allen County Right to Life, over the years I have had the opportunity to speak with many women who have had abortions at Ulrich Klopfer’s Fort Wayne Women’s Health Organization. This is a direct quote from one of those women who received abortion information at Fort Wayne Women’s Health Organization: ‘I asked them what they do with the baby and they said it would be incinerated just like a gall bladder. I would personally prefer the option to have a funeral service for my baby.'”

Marianne Anderson, former Indianapolis Planned Parenthood nurse:

“I was an employee of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility located at 8590 Georgetown Road here in Indianapolis from 2010 to 2012. For part of that time, I worked in the products of conception room. I often heard one doctor talk to the aborted baby while looking for all the parts. It is a customary procedure to make certain there are no baby body parts left inside the mother. He would say ‘Come on, little arm, I know you’re here! Now you stop hiding from me!’ It just made me sick to my stomach.

“I saw other doctors come into the products of conception room with the dirty instruments in one hand and a jar in the other. In that jar were the pieces of the baby’s body. He would take the contents of that jar, pour it into a big strainer, sift through it to make sure all the parts were there, and then pour it down the drain into the sewer system without treating it in any way.

“The typical woman that I encountered at Planned Parenthood asked to hold her baby, which they did not allow. However, I know from experience that the women were concerned about the condition of their babies after the abortion procedure.”

Misty Coburn, former Fort Wayne Women’s Health Organization nurse:

“I used a simple kitchen strainer, over a sink, and sifted through the contents of the collection jar after an abortion. I had to make certain all the body parts of the baby were accounted for. The garbage disposal was available and used for the placenta and any other tissue that had fallen into the sink. At that time, I was instructed to place the babies into a simple plastic container and packaged to be sent to a lab for disposal. The clinic reportedly hired a company which would send a truck to pick up the babies. Maybe this is a way the state could tell the abortionist how to dispose of the bodies.”

Sally Williams Thompson, post-abortive woman:

“While there are many comments I could make about my experience, let me assure you that I assumed they had an appropriate way to dispose of my baby. Even after all these years, it would bring me comfort to know that my baby had been disposed of in a respectful manner. Regardless of where you stand on abortion, I am certain we can all agree that the bodies of aborted babies should not be poured down the sewer system.”

Senate Bill 329 passed 9-2. It must now pass the Senate in order to advance.

Indiana Right to Life’s mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.